Abundant, affordable electric energy is paramount to the future of manufacturing in West Virginia, and clean coal technology must continue to be a measured part of our state and national energy policies.
Reaching a Long-Term Balance Energy and Manufacturing
By Joseph Eddy
West Virginia has a rich history in the
production of energy resources such as coal, oil, gas and, more recently, hydroelectric and wind turbine energy. For more than 150 years these resources have helped fuel our state and nation’s electric power generation and chemical, steel, aluminum, polymer, wood, automotive and glass manufacturing industries. Today, manufacturers use one-third of our nation’s total energy output for heating, fuel, processing and raw materials. West Virginia’s energy resources play an ever more important role in framing a national energy policy that includes the security and stability of abundant, affordable energy for manufacturing in West Virginia and the United States.
Coal Resources Today, 96 percent of West Virginia’s electric power generation comes from coal, and West Virginia leads the nation in net interstate electricity exports. We are the second-leading coal producing state and account Joseph Eddy in the Eagle Manufacturing Plant in Wellsburg, WV.
for nearly one-third of U.S. coal production in the east and one-tenth nationwide. Coal continues to provide low cost electricity to West Virginia’s consumers and a competitive advantage for our state’s manufacturing industries. The coal industry provided more than 60,000 jobs and paid $500 million in coal severance taxes in West Virginia in 2011. Nationally, since 2007, coal-fired electric generation has declined from about 50 percent to 40 percent—at a time when overall energy consumption has a 20-year projected growth of 35 percent. Continued attacks by the Environmental ExEdge Protection Agency (EPA) on coal will have West Virginia is costly long-term effects on West Virginia’s ranked sixth in the jobs, economy, tax base and energy costs. share of overall Abundant, affordable electric energy is gross domestic paramount to the future of manufacturing product that comes from chemicals in West Virginia, and clean coal technology and polymers, must continue to be a measured part of our and nearly 25 percent of the state and national energy policies.
Natural Gas Resources
state’s $4.8 billion in international exports are chemicals and polymers.
Over 150 years ago, West Virginia was one of the first areas to commercially produce natural gas. In fact, from 1910 Source: http:// to 1925, West Virginia was the nation’s chemicalswv. number one producer of natural gas. Since com/default.aspx that time, West Virginia manufacturers’ fortunes or failures have been dependent upon having an abundant, affordable supply of natural gas to fuel their plants and/or supply feedstock in their chemical processes. Today, the major consumers of natural gas in the U.S. are electric power generation (35 percent), industrial/manufacturing (30 percent), residential (20 percent) and commercial/vehicle fuel (15 percent). In 2010, West Virginia oil and natural gas companies produced 288 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.85 million barrels of oil and paid $71 million in severance taxes and $106 million in property taxes. The industry in West Virginia makes more than 30,000 jobs possible.
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spring 2012
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